AHL: John McCarthy gets chance with Worcester Sharks

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 6:00 AMFeb 6, 2014 at 12:49 AM

Bill Ballou AHL

It's not the same as getting laid off by United Airlines, but nobody likes a demotion and that includes John McCarthy.

"It's always disappointing to be sent down, to be cut from the team, really," McCarthy said on his trek from San Jose back to Worcester. "But I hadn't been playing that much in San Jose, I hadn't been contributing offensively, and this is a chance for me work on some things I need to do better."

Worcester coach Roy Sommer intends to give McCarthy that chance.

"We're gonna use him a lot," Sommer said. "He'll play center, but really, he can play anywhere up front. He'll take a regular shift, he'll kill penalties and we'll use him on the power play. We'll give him the opportunity to get his confidence back."

McCarthy has been good enough to score 20 goals in the AHL, something not many Sharks have done. He has played 86 games, more than a full season, in the National Hockey League. Ability has never been an issue and McCarthy has generally been one of those players who contributions are more than pure numbers.

Numbers count, though, and they were not good in San Jose where he had one point and was minus-12 in 35 games.

McCarthy was a huge part of the only Sharks team to win a division title, so Worcester can use his experience down the stretch, except that the ultimate goal for everyone involved is to get him back to San Jose.

It's the classic AHL dilemma, but as his team embarks upon tough five-game road trip, having McCarthy on the roster is not what Sommer would define as a problem.

Sharks vs. IceCaps

McCarthy is joined by Eriah Hayes on the Sharks' visit to St. John's, a two-game trip that has serious playoff implications for Worcester. The Sharks-IceCaps rivalry is the reverse of Worcester-Providence. St. John's plays much better against the rest of the league than against the Sharks, who are 7-1-1 up there all-time. This year, Worcester is 4-0-1 against a team that is 26-13-1 vs. the rest of the AHL. … Bruce Landon retired as president of the Springfield Falcons on Tuesday, but will stay on as director of hockey operations. Next stop for Landon should be a spot in the American Hockey League Hall of Fame, and we hope he can make the drive to the DCU Center when Springfield comes to town on March 2. … A prediction — James Livingston snaps his long goal drought in Newfoundland. He has gone 27 games and 74 shots since his last goal on Nov. 29 vs. Portland. The only longer such streak by a Worcester forward was by Ross Wilson of the 1994-95 IceCats. His lasted 27 games and 77 shots and ended on Feb. 21, 1995, in St. John's. Worth noting — Livingston is plus-2 during the slump and Wilson was plus-2 during his drought… This makes nine AHL teams for Trevor Gillies, the legendary enforcer who turned 35 last month. Ex-IceCat Craig Conroy signed Gillies — an ex-IceCat, too — to add some muscle to Abbotsford. No need to remind anyone that Brian Burke, the boss in Calgary, loves a team that can fight. With Gillies in the lineup, the Heat beat Charlotte on Tuesday night, 7-1.

Marchessault ends drought

Hard to believe, but Springfield's Jonathan Marchessault did not score a goal in any of the 13 games Springfield played last month. He got one Tuesday in the Falcons' 4-0 victory over Albany, which ended their five-game losing streak. … So, here's the math. Opposing snipers have recorded five 4-goal games vs. the Sharks since they came to town in 2006-07 and the Sharks have not had any. That totals 596 games. The IceCats' last four-goal game was by Michal Handzus at Providence on Jan. 9, 1998, and they played 599 games after that. That makes it 1,195 games since a Worcester player got more than three. … Two forwards, Luke Adam of Rochester and Spencer Abbott of Toronto — or is that Spencer Toronto of Abbotsford? — have been added to the AHL roster for the upcoming All-Star Classic. … Sharks goalie prospect J.P. Anderson is in town recuperating from a bizarre injury to his left ring finger — that's his blocker side. Anderson was taking out the trash at his place in San Francisco and didn't realize the dumpster cover had some metal piled atop it. The cover fell hard and essentially amputated the tip of that finger. It has been surgically repaired — the finger, that is. Anderson needs the finger, but won't need the place in San Francisco anymore. … Scores from the world of sports on Tuesday night — St. John's 86, Providence 76; Providence 3, St. John's 2. Pick your game. … Nick Petrecki has reached the 500 mark for career PIM. That's second on the Sharks' all-time list. He trails Frazer McLaren by 77.

Pirates returning to Portland

The 2014-15 Portland Pirates will actually play in Portland, it seems, after the team and the Cumberland County CivicCenter came to their second five-year lease agreement in a year. The first one wound up in a lawsuit, which is how the Pirates wound up in Lewiston.

They will stay there for the rest of this season. The Sharks have two more game left in Lewiston.

This year's Pirates are beginning to look a lot like the 2012 Red Sox. It's not just that they are losing — the Pirates have won one of their last 10 games — it's how they are doing it. Portland is just collapsing and losing ugly.

Going into Wednesday night, the Pirates had surrendered seven goals in three straight contests and had not won a game on home ice in 2014, going 0-6-2 at the Colisee .

On this date ...

The Sharks traveled north to Lowell and drilled the Devils, 6-1, for one of their most decisive road victories. Riley Armstrong scored goals at 11:17 and 17:01 of the second period, giving him a chance at a pure hat trick, but they turned out to be his only goals of the game. Armstrong also had an assist on a third-period goal by Devin Setoguchi.

Mike Iggulden was 1-2-3 for Worcester, and Brad Staubitz added a goal with Dimitri Patzold earning the win in net and future Shark Frank Doyle taking the loss.

Hoffman Player of Week

Thanks mainly to his performance at the DCU Center last week, Binghamton's Mike Hoffman is Player of the Week.

He was 5-2-7 in three games for the Senators; four of the goals and five of the points came in Worcester. The league also announced monthly awards.

Travis Morin of Texas is Player of the Month for the second time this season. He was 10-11-21 in 11 games; defenseman Brenden Kichton of St. John's is Rookie of the Month. He was 3-11-14 and plus-6 in 12 games.

Wilkes-Barre's Eric Hartzell is Goalie of the Month. He was 5-2-0 with a 1.33 goals against average and .944 saves percentage.

Catching up with ...

Former Sharks captain Jay Leach's playing days are over, but he's hoping his hockey days are not.

Leach has officially retired from playing and has been looking around for a chance to stay involved in the game, but at this point figures jobs won't be opening up until the summer.

In the meantime, he's living in Charlestown and making furniture at his workshop in South Boston.

Given the Leach family history, Jay Leach is liable to wind up behind a bench somewhere.

"That would be a direction the family seems to gravitate toward," he said, "and I'd love to make that transition. It's really where I'd like my career to go from here."

Leach is friends with Ben Guite, the ex-Shark who is coaching at Maine.

"I think he and I have a lot in common," Leach said, "in terms of how our careers went, playing in different leagues, playing for a lot of different teams, learning different systems."

Leach expects to catch a game in Worcester before the month is over and with an eye on staying in hockey, he won't be on hand just to cheer for his old friends.